Sanitary closet



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. S. ROSS.

SANITARY GLOSBT. No. 460,326. Patented Sept. 29, 1891.

Wb'zetse ed, l {7m/ie Kfm. m 77.45.3066.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM S. ROSS, OF MADISONVILLE, KENTUCKY.

SANITARY CLOSET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 460,326, dated September 29, 1891.

h Application filed February 18, 1891. Serial No. 381,891. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that l, VILLIAM S. ROSS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Madisonville, in the county of Hopkins and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sanitary Closets; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates, generally, to sanitary closets, and particularly to improvements in that class thereof in which furnaces are employed for drying and burning fecal matteras, for instance, in such an apparatus as that 'for which Letters Patent were granted to me September 19, 1882, No. 264,568-instead of permitting such matter to pass away through pipes and drains or sewers, which is objectionable, as is well known, not only on account of the foul odors arising therethrough i and therefrom, but as being the frequent cause of disease; and my invention consists in the peculiarities of construction and arrangement or combination of parts herein-l 'after fully disclosed in the description, drawings, and claims.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved sanitary closet which is simple in con struction, practically indestructible, being mainly made of iron and stone or brick, easily operated, not liable to get out of order, positive in its action, and independent of atmospheric changes; also,it avoids reverse drafts of foul air into the rooms of buildings and dries and burns all fecal matter without removing the same from the place of original deposit. rlhis object is accomplished by the improved apparatus illustrated in the accom.- panying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which the same reference-n umerals indicate the same parts, and in which- Figure 1 represents a detail perspective view of my improved sanitary closet, showing the metallic casing partly broken away,

' the hinged iron lids thereof, and a series of seats mounted upon said casing, which are formed with openings in their hinged tops and provided with hinged wooden covers for said openings and with cast-iron plates in the front portions thereof, one of said lids and one of said covers being shown in partiallyraised positions; and Fig. 2, a transverse section of the same on the lineman of Fig. 1, showing said casing arranged and supported within a pit or vault.

In the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the pit or vault, which is made of stone or brick and provided with walls 2,.for1ned with spaces 3 for containing cement or concrete 4, which renders said vault water-proof; also,it is provided with a cement or concrete bottom 5, and may be made ofany length for the accommodation of the metallic casing 6 and as many seats 7 as may be desired, and also its bottom and the inner surfaces of its walls are preferably coated with a suitable fire-proof composition. The interior of the metallic casing 6 constitutes a combined deposit and furnace chamber 8, within which and at a proper distance from its bottom is suitably secured the perforated plate or false bottom l), which receives the deposits of fecal and liquid matters, retains the former upon its upper surface, and permits the latter to pass therethrough and down upon the bottom of said chamber. At one end of this chamber and said perforated false bottom is secured the furnacegrate 10, which may be of any suitable construction and within which fires are built for drying and burning the fecal deposits lying upon said perforated bottom at such intervals as may be necessary or desired. This end of the deposit and furnace chamber is also provided with the vertical and horizontal doors 11, which permit access to said grate for feeding fuel thereto, for cleaning it, and for starting fires therein. Also, the opposite end of said chamber is provided with the discharge pipe or iiue 12, which communicates with a chimney or other outlet for carrying' away the smoke and noxious gases, which are not only the source of foul odors, but the cause of varions diseases. rlhis chamber is also provided along its top with a series of hinged metallic lids 13, which, when in theirlowered positions, tightly close it and prevent the escape of foul odors or heat therefrom, according to circumstances.

Mounted and rmly secured upon the top of the casing 6 is the metallic skeleton frame 14., which is provided along its front side with IOO a series of snuglyfitting vertical cast iron plates 15, one for each seat, which are employed for the purpose of directing downward into the deposit-chamber any liquids which may come into contact therewith. Also, this skeleton frame is provided along its top with a series of inwardly-projecting flan ges 16, which serve as supports for the hinged metallic seat-plates 17, which are formed with the openings 18 directly over the metallic lids 13 and the openings covered thereby. These seat-plates and their openings when not in use are kept closed by the hinged wooden covers 19.

In the upper rear portion of the skeleton frame 14 is suitably journaled the horizontal shaft 20, which extends the full length of said frame and is pro vided with a series of sprocket-wheels 2l, which correspond in number to the number of seat-plates employed and are arranged on lines at or nearthe centers thereof. One end of this shaft is provided with the vcrank-handle 22 for turning it and with the ratchet-wheel 23, with which engages the pawl 24, which is pivoted to the end of the frame for holding said shaftin any position to which it may be turned by the attendant.

At or near the centers of the front edges of the metallic lids 13 of the deposit and furnace chamber 8 in the metallic casing 6 are attached the front ends of the sprocket-chains 25,4which pass upwardly, rearwardly, and over the sprocket-wheels 21 on the shaft 20, and thence downwardly along the rear side of said casing, where they are provided at their rear ends with the weights 26, which are raised and lowered in the recess or recesses 27, formed in the rear wall of the vault.

Y To the left corners of the front edges of the lids 13 are secured the lower ends of the small chains 28, which have their upper ends secured to the lower ends of the two-armed locking-levers 29, which have their upper ends formed with the rearwardly curved hooks 30, which are arranged to engage with the loops or eyes 31, secured upon the under surfaces and near the left edges of the hinged wooden covers 19, the purposes of these small chains, two-armed levers, and loops or eyes being to lock said wooden covers upon the seat-plates 17 as the metallic lids 13 are lowered and closed and to unlock the former as the latter are raised and opened. These results are effected automatically when the crank-handle 22 of the sprocket-wheel shaft 20 is operated by the attendant.

It is obvious from the foregoing that the horizontal shaft 2O may be of any length desired and that it is provided with as many sprocket-wheels 21 as there are sprocketchains 25, lids 13, weights 26, plate-seats 17, small chains 28, two-armed locking-levers 29, and loops or eyes 31; that the operation of the crank-handle 22 on the shaft 2O by the attendant, through the connections described,

' results in alternately opening and closing all of the metallic lids 13 simultaneously; that when the latter are closed the deposit and furnace chamber 8 is fire-proof; that the weights 26 take up any slack in the sprocketchains 25 and hold them firmly upon the sprocket-wheels 21; that the two-armed and hooked levers 29 and the loops or eyes 31 lock the wooden covers 19 after they have been lowered and the metallic lids 13 have been closed, and also they unlock said covers after said lids have been raised or opened, these results being effected by the aid of the small chains 28, which are respectively attached at their ends to the front edges of said lids and the lower ends of said hooked levers; that the pit or vault 1 is made water-tight to prevent contaminating the surrounding soil by the percolation of liquids through said vault; that my improved closet is mainly intended to be used in the basements or on the ground floors of buildings, but is capable of use in the upper stories thereof, if desired, and that by the action of the tire in the deposit and furnace chamber, which may be either derived from coal, wood, or hydrocarbon oil, the fecal matter is at suitable intervals first dried and then burned to ashes, leaving said closet almost as clean as when it was new, and thus preventing all oensive odors andl destroying the source of many diseases.

Having thus fully described the construction and arrangement or combination of the parts and features constituting myinvention, its operation, and advantages, what I claim as new is- 1. In a sanitary closet, the combination, with a metallic deposit and furnace chamber provided with a series of hinged metallic lids, of a revoluble horizontal shaft, a ratchet-wheel mounted thereon, an engaging-pawl pivoted outside of said chamber, and connecting devices between said shaft and lids for alternately opening and closing the latter and holding the same in position, substantially as described. f

2. In a sanitary closet, the combination, with a metallic deposit and furnace chamber provided with a series of hinged metallic lids, of a revoluble horizontal shaft provided with a series of sprocket-wheels and a series of sprocket-chains connecting said lids and sprocket-wheelsfor alternately opening and closing said lids simultaneously, substantially as described.

3. In a sanitary closet, the combination, with a metallic deposit and furnace chamber provided with a series of hinged metallic lids, of a skeleton frame mounted and secured upon said chamber and provided with a series of seats, a revoluble horizontal shaft journaled in said frame, and connecting devices between said shaft and lids for alternately opening and closing the latter simultaneously, said connecting devices consisting of a series of sprocket-wheels secured to said shaft and aseries of sprocket-chains connecting said lids and sprocket-wheels for alternately opening and closing said lids simultaneously,substantially as described.

4. In a sanitary closet, the combination, with a metallic deposit and furnace chamber provided with a series of hinged metallic lids, of a skeleton frame mounted and secured upon said chamber and provided with a series of seats having the vertical cast-iron plates, the hinged metallic seat-plates formed with openings, and the hinged wooden covers, a revoluble horizontal shaft, and connecting devices between said shaft and lids for alternately opening and closing the latter simultaneously, substantially as described.

5. In a sanitary closet, the combination, with a deposit-chamber provided with a hinged lid and a frame mounted and secured above said chamber and provided with a seat having a hinged cover, of locking and unlocking devices connecting said hinged lid and cover, substantially as described.

G. In asanitary closet, the co1nbination,with a metallic deposit and furnace chamber provided with a series of hinged metallic lids and a frame mounted and secured upon said chamber and provided with a series of seats having hinged covers and seat-plates formed with openings, of locking and unlocking devices connecting said hinged lids and covers, substantially as describet 7. In a sanitar closet, the combination, with a metallic deposit and furnace chamber provided with a series of hinged metallic lids, of a skeleton frame mounted and secured upon said chamber and provided with a series of seats having hinged covers, a revoluble horizontal shaft j ournaled in said frame, connecting devices between said shaft and lids, consisting of a series of sprocket-wheels secured to said shaft and a series of sprocket-chains connecting said lids and sprocket-wheels for alternately opening and closing said lids simultaneously, and a series of locking and unlocking devices connecting said hinged lids and covers, substantially as described.

8. In a sanitary closet, the combination, with a metallic deposit and furnace chamber provided with a series of hinged metallic lids, of a skeleton frame mounted and secured upon said chamber and provided with a series of seats having hinged covers, a revolu'ble horizontal shaft journaled in said frame, connecting devices between said shaft and lids, consisting of a series of sprocket-'wheels secured to said shaft and a series of sprocket-chains connecting said lids and sprocket-wheels for alternately opening and closing said lids simultaneously, and a series of locking and unlocking devices connecting said hinged lids and covers, said devices comprising aV series of small chains, two arm ed hooked levers, and

loops or eyes, which are respectively secured to said lids, frame, and covers, substantially as described.

9. A sanitary closet comprising a pit or vault having Walls formed with spaces con taining cement or concrete, with recesses, and with a cement or concrete bottom, a metallic casing arranged within said vault and h av* ing a deposit and furnace chamber provided with a series of hinged metallic lids, a skeleton frame mounted 'and secured upon said chamber and provided with a series of seats having hinged covers, locking and unlocking devices connecting said hinged lids and covers, a revoluble horizontal shaft journalcd in said frame, and connecting devices between said shaft and lids for alternately opening and closing the latter simultaneously, said connecting devices consisting of a series of sprocket-wheels secured to said shaft and a series of weighted sprocket'chains connecting said lids and sprocket-wheels for alternately opening and closing said lids simultaneously, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

lVILLIAM S. ROSS.

N/Titiiesses:

En. WILKINs, NATHAN KAHN. 

